Angels fans love themselves a pitcher who emerges from nowhere to become a real contributor. This year they want Drew Rucinski to be that guy so badly. Can he fulfill that wish? *The MWAH projections are simply my best guess based off my own personal opinion and research (my wOBA calculation is approximate because my […]

Angels fans love themselves a pitcher who emerges from nowhere to become a real contributor. This year they want Drew Rucinski to be that guy so badly. Can he fulfill that wish?

*The MWAH projections are simply my best guess based off my own personal opinion and research (my wOBA calculation is approximate because my math skills are only “meh”)

What happened in 2014?Drew Rucinski was out of organized baseball in 2012 before being pulled off the scrapheap by the Angels in 2013. He made five starts for the Inland Empire 66ers that season and was impressive enough to stick in the organization for another year. He got bumped up to Double-A in 2014 and just continued to find success. In fact, Rucinski was pretty excellent for the Travs, posting a 3.15 ERA and boasting a 140-t0-41 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

That impressive performance combined with sheer attrition of the big league pitching staff resulted in Rucinski getting added to the 40-man roster and then called up the big leagues. He would only make three mop-up appearances, but considering where he was two years ago, the fact that those mop-up appearances even happened is an amazing story.

What do the projections think he will do in 2015?
Surprisingly, the projections actually seem to think that Drew Rucinski more than belongs on a MLB roster. Steamer has a very rosy projection for him, but it needs to be taken with a grain of salt as it only has him pitching 15 innings. ZiPS isn’t nearly as optimistic, but it isn’t doom-and-gloom either. The real issue it sees with him is that he won’t miss a lot of bats. CAIRO also see that problem to a slightly lesser degree, but it also sees Rucinski succeeding in spite of it by doing a better job of keeping the ball in the park.

Does the Monkey agree or disagree?
I also think Rucinski can be useful, but I am very much on the fence as to how useful. He doesn’t really have a good third pitch to make him a highly effective starter and his slider and velocity don’t figure to play up enough to make him a bullpen weapon. He seems perfectly suited to be a inning-eating fifth starter or a long reliever who does an adequate job of soaking up innings and not letting things get out of hand. Admittedly, that is a pretty uninformed projection because we just haven’t seen enough of Rucinski in the majors or even the minors to truly understand what exactly the Angels have.

THREE OPEN QUESTIONS FOR DREW RUCINSKI IN 20151) Is Rucinski really going to make the Opening Day roster?
It looks like it thanks to the misadventures of Andrew Heaney and Nick Tropeano. The Halos won’t be starting the season with a fifth starter, so they are going to have an extra slot in the bullpen. They also lost Cory Rasmus to injury, so they have a major need for a reliever with length. They could go with Jose Alvarez, but they’d still have another roster spot open and no one else who has been good enough to earn that spot other than Rucinski. So, yeah, he’s going to make the roster.

None of that is to suggest he didn’t earn it though. Rucinski has pitched his butt off this spring and become the annual training camp darling of the fans. The roster attrition merely guaranteed him the roster spot, but he might’ve earned it anyway thanks to his performance.

2) Will he actually be able to stay on the roster?Now that’s a horse of an entirely different color. Scioscia has a proven history of wanting a long reliever on the staff, so when Richards comes back, there will still be one long reliever in the bullpen. However, if it comes down to Rucinski and Alvarez, Alvarez has a major edge because he’s left-handed and the Angels might prefer having two lefties to use in relief. Then again, Scioscia has never been super into exploiting matchups, so one lefty reliever could be more than enough. Of course, it could just come down to which of the bottom two relievers just doesn’t pitch well, so Rucinski will have to impress in his audition. It could really pay off for him if he is the one picked to make the one spot start that will be required before Garrett Richards is able to make his return.

After that though, he doesn’t figure to survive beyond when Cory Rasmus gets healthy. It is entirely possible too that if Hector Santiago flames out in the rotation that the Halos will turn back to Heaney or Tropeano and give Rucinski’s long relief role to Santiago. I guess what I’m saying is that Rucinski is going to be fighting to stay on the active roster almost constantly.

3) Do you actually have a third question about Drew Rucinski?No, not really. Like I said, he’s pretty much an unknown. He’s a great story and we all are pulling for him. He’s also a great story from the front office perspective in that Dipoto’s regime was able to identify a guy like him, bring him into the fold and actually get any utility out of him. Maybe they just got lucky, but if Rucinski provides even 0.1 WAR this year, it is a nice feather in the cap of the scouting department.

The Final Word (and GIF)“Mystery”It is fun to root for Rucinski and all, but unless you are a scout, a season ticket holder for the Arkansas Travelers or an avid MiLB.tv watcher, you really don’t know what Rucinski is. He had a lot of success in a super-pitcher-friendly environment in Double-A last year and has pitched well against scrubs in Spring Training. Rucisnki is a man of mystery to the casual fan, so root for him to succeed, but let’s not go overboard campaigning for him to be slotted into the rotation over a Top 30 prospect like Heaney or even a lesser prospect like Tropeano.

The March 31st, 2015 edition of Los Angeles Angels news including Giavotella appears to have won 2B job, quantifying Trout’s importance and much more… The Story: Johnny Giavotella appears to have locked up the second base job. The Monkey Says: The Angels used what very much looked like their Opening Day lineup yesterday and it included Giavotella starting […]

The March 31st, 2015 edition of Los Angeles Angels news including Giavotella appears to have won 2B job, quantifying Trout’s importance and much more…

The Story:Johnny Giavotella appears to have locked up the second base job.The Monkey Says: The Angels used what very much looked like their Opening Day lineup yesterday and it included Giavotella starting at second and batting ninth. Scioscia refused to confirm that this was his de facto starting lineup, but it wasn’t a convincing denial.

The Story:Grant Green is adapting to his new role as a utility player.The Monkey Says: Even he isn’t totally sure why he fell out of the second base race so quickly, but he’s largely been seeing time in left field of late. My guess is that his second base defense was just so bad that the Angels decided to cut bait and use the time better by having him work out at other positions. As such, Green will likely start the year in Triple-A, though it remains possible that he could win a bench spot.

The Story:Grantland previews the AL West.The Monkey Says: And picks the Mariners to win the division, though they do believe the Angels will win the Wild Card.

The Story:Looking at the Kris Bryant situation through the lens of Mike Trout’s service time considerations.The Monkey Says: I’d actually prefer to consider whether or not the Angels would’ve been better off not calling him up as early as they did in 2012 or maybe not call him up at all in 2011. His performance level was so established by 2013 that it obviously was never going to happen. The difference now with Bryant is that while everyone expects him to be a star, we haven’t seen him prove it yet.

Johnny Giavotella somehow went from being the detritus of the Royals farm system to the presumptive starter at second base for the Angels. Can the Halos help him finally realize his potential or did Kansas City jettison Giavotella for good reason? *The MWAH projections are simply my best guess based off my own personal opinion and research (my […]

Johnny Giavotella somehow went from being the detritus of the Royals farm system to the presumptive starter at second base for the Angels. Can the Halos help him finally realize his potential or did Kansas City jettison Giavotella for good reason?

*The MWAH projections are simply my best guess based off my own personal opinion and research (my wOBA calculation is approximate because my math skills are only “meh”)

What happened in 2014?The former top prospect sank about as low as a top prospect not named Brandon Wood can go. The Royals completely gave up trying to make Giavotella work. They gave him semi-legitimate looks in 2011 and 2012, but in 2013 and 2014, Johnny G. barely even got a cup of coffee. In 2014 though, the Royals weren’t even pretending like he had a shot at second base anymore as they went out and signed Omar Infante to be the starter for the next several years.

For his part, Giavotella still managed to have success in Triple-A. He posted a 112 wRC+ and actually had more walks than strikeouts, which is pretty impressive no matter what level a player is at. Kansas City wasn’t going to be lulled into believing him again though, so they designated him for assignment after the season. At that point, the Angels swooped in and acquire Giavotella for some random guy they had just signed out of an independent league.

What do the projections think he will do in 2015?
Shockingly, the projection systems actually think Johnny Giavotella can be a useful baseball player. Steamer and CAIRO have fairly similar projections that would cast him as a second division starter if he received everyday playing time. ZiPS is a little more pessimistic about his bat, but gives him a positive marks defensively to project him as a more viable regular. That’s pretty surprising given that Giavotella has 465 plate appearances worth of being an epic failure in the big leagues.

Does the Monkey agree or disagree?
Nope, sorry. Not buying it. Every once in awhile a top prospect flames out, moves to a different organization and then finally makes good. I can see how folks think Johnny Giavotella could be one of those guys since he never seemed to get a fair shake with the Royals, but with how patient they’ve been with all their other talent, I have to think that their unwillingness to even give Giavotella a long look is pretty telling.

THREE OPEN QUESTIONS FOR JOHNNY GIAVOTELLA IN 20151) Is Johnny Giavotella really going to be the starter?
It depends on how much stock the Angels put into Spring Training number, which hopefully isn’t much. Johnny G. has put up the best offensive number of any of the four second base candidates while Rutledge seems to be hitting his way out of a job and Grant Green has been fielding his way out of a job simultaneously. With Featherston not really being a contender for the job, Giavotella has pretty much become the starter by default.

If he keeps hitting and keeps not screwing up to badly on defense, he could very well win the job for real. It is probably more important though that Josh Rutledge continue to stink up the joint. It does help Giavotella’s case though that he is out of options. That might provide Dipoto enough incentive to keep him around to see if he can translate his spring success to the regular season rather than exposing him to waivers.

2) What is his ceiling?Back when he was still a hot prospect with Kansas City he was, stop me when this starts to sound familiar, a guy who many thought would be a future batting champion! No way!

That was the thought four years ago, but like so many other Royals prospects from that era, Giavotella’s bat just didn’t play when he got to the majors. He was the first one of that crop that the Royals gave up on though. That probably doesn’t bode well for him, but it does leave a glimmer of hope that maybe Johnny could land with another franchise and they can undo whatever curse the Royals development staff has cast on all their failed bats.

The future batting champ thing obviously isn’t going to happen, but with his ability to put the bat on the ball and the Angels preaching a more OBP-driven philosophy, perhaps they can scale back his aggressive approach and get him to hit at a league average level for a second baseman.

3) But can he field?Oh, right, that. Yeah, the glove could be a problem. In fact, his glove was the bigger issue during his early stints with the Royals. They hated his defense and just rode him about it, possibly to his detriment. One might even be able to argue that Giavotella failed to hit in the bigs because he was so focused on his fielding that he wasn’t able to concentrate on making the adjustments at the plate that were required for him to succeed.

While Giavotella has undoubtedly been working on his glove, we don’t really have a sense of where his defense is right now. Hopefully Dipoto and his scouting department have a better idea. All I know is that he hasn’t looked awful during Spring Training, but he hasn’t looked good either.

The Final Word (and GIF)“Escape”Johnny Giavotella escaped from the minor league prison the Royals had him in. The question is will he make the most of his freedom and become a useful MLB starter or end up lasting only a few weeks on the outside before metaphorically hanging himself from a support beam after carving “Johnny G. was here” into it.

The March 30th, 2015 edition of Los Angeles Angels news including Angels to use four-man rotation, Lindstrom released and much more… The Story: The Angels are likely to start the season with a four-man rotation. The Monkey Says: Heaney and Tropeano both sort of fell on their face this spring, so the team is going to send them […]

The March 30th, 2015 edition of Los Angeles Angels news including Angels to use four-man rotation, Lindstrom released and much more…

The Story:The Angels are likely to start the season with a four-man rotation.The Monkey Says: Heaney and Tropeano both sort of fell on their face this spring, so the team is going to send them both to the minors. They can get into mid-April without a fifth starter, so they will carry eight relievers instead and likely just use Rucinski or Alvarez to make one spot start before Richards slots back into the mix. This is a disappointing development for the Halos as they had been hoping for Heaney to contribute, but it also isn’t the worst thing in the world.

The Story:The Angels released Matt Lindstrom.The Monkey Says: He was a bit shocked by it, but he shouldn’t have been. He didn’t pitch well in the last week and the Angels prefer roster flexibility. He’ll try and catch on elsewhere now. As a result of Lindstrom’s release, Vinnie Pestano is now a virtual lock to make the roster.

The Story:Some Angels players are worried that Josh Hamilton could become a distraction when he returns.The Monkey Says: This isn’t a media-created narrative, these comments come straight from the players themselves. It really makes you wonder what the Angels will do with Hamilton if he gets a very long suspension. If he gets 100+ games, they might very well just choose to write him off. Shorter than that though, they might feel like they need to at least pretend like they are supporting him and let him come back for at least a portion of the season before cutting bait. Whatever the case, it is highly doubtful Josh Hamilton will be on the Angels roster on Opening Day of 2016.

The Story:Efren Navarro is swinging a hot bat and pushing for a roster spot.The Monkey Says: He might well get it. His defense makes him more versatile and the fact that Cron may not be platooned for means that a more traditional bench player fits the roster. If Matt Joyce is still having leg issues when the season starts, that only makes it even more likely that Navarro gets the last roster spot.

The Story:SI.com previews the Angels 2015 season.The Monkey Says: They’ve got them down for 92 wins, but second in the AL West because of this crazy notion that the Mariners are somehow a juggernaut now.

The Story:Team value according to media exposure.The Monkey Says: The Angels rank tenth. They were getting a lot of exposure, but other than Trout, most of the exposure hasn’t been real positive of late. Also, this valuation is utter bullpuckey.

Taylor Featherston was plucked from the Rockies via the Rule 5 draft. Now the Angels are hoping he can go from Double-A to a big league reserve role in 2015. What happened in 2014? In 2014, Taylor Featherston was in the Colorado Rockies organization, spending the entire year in Double-A Tulsa. There he continued to display […]

Taylor Featherston was plucked from the Rockies via the Rule 5 draft. Now the Angels are hoping he can go from Double-A to a big league reserve role in 2015.

What happened in 2014?In 2014, Taylor Featherston was in the Colorado Rockies organization, spending the entire year in Double-A Tulsa. There he continued to display decent pop for a middle infielder, a glove that would play up the middle and continued contact issues. It was a perfectly good season, but it apparently wasn’t what the Rockies were hoping to see because they left him off their 40-man roster and exposed him to the Rule 5 draft. You know, because the Rockies are just overloaded with talent right now.

Whatever Colorado didn’t like, the Angels obviously did as they cut a deal to acquire his rights in the Rule 5 draft so he could come compete for a bench job with the Halos this spring.

*The MWAH projections are simply my best guess based off my own personal opinion and research (my wOBA calculation is approximate because my math skills are only “meh”)

What do the projections think he will do in 2015?
If these projections prove to be true, Featherston is going to be pretty tough to carry on the MLB roster all year. The glove rates just fine, but his bat would be a big problem. His power doesn’t project to translate. He doesn’t project to walk much. He does project to strike out… A LOT. Even as a reserve infielder, that’s just not good enough, especially since he isn’t a defensive wizard like John McDonald was. Of course the big caveat in all of this is that the projections are based off of him never playing a single game above Double-A, so the systems aren’t working with as fine-tuned a model as they would if he were a seven-year MLB veteran.

Does the Monkey agree or disagree?
If there is one projection I might want to do over again, it would be Featherston’s. While I am slightly more bullish on Featherston than the other projection systems, after seeing Featherston in the spring, I actually think he is far more capable of holding his own in the majors than I first thought. There is obviously plenty of reason to doubt him as he is coming straight from Double-A and never actually dominated at any level. But he’s gotten a lot of playing time in Spring Training and has more than held his own.

THREE OPEN QUESTIONS FOR TAYLOR FEATHERSTON IN 20151) Is Featherston going to make the roster?
It looks pretty good for him right now, even Jerry Dipoto has made comment recently strongly suggesting that Featherston will make the roster. Taylor has flashed a little bit with his bat this spring, but what has really earned him the gig is that his glovework has been impressive. He’s no Gold Glover, but he’s proven to be more than adequate at second, third and short. For a team that needs a utility infielder that can actually field and someone with a little speed off the bench, Featherston seems like a perfect fit.

It also doesn’t hurt that the Angels would likely lose him if they tried to pass him through waivers because he’s a Rule 5 pick. Dipoto values these cheap young assets too much to risk just giving one away.

2) Could Featherston win the starting second base job?
Out of training camp, no. Giavotella, Rutledge and even Green still seem to have an edge on Featherston in that race. Taylor Featherston is the best defender of the bunch and none of the three are hitting all that much better than Featherston (if hitting better at all, Mr. Rutledge). It just seems that Scioscia would prefer to go with someone who actually has played a game above Double-A. They probably also want to make sure that they explore all their options before they put all their eggs in Featherston’s basket.

Featherston could potentially take over at second if the other three options all fall flat, but he really is better suited for a reserve role at this point of his career. More likely though is that Featherston continues to operate as a utilityman and the Halos decide to stop screwing around and make a trade for an established veteran to play second.

3) Why didn’t the Angels acquire a more established veteran?Part of me wonders if Dipoto got a bit too caught up in his effort to infuse the roster with youth and athleticism. Taylor Featherston helps to serve that end, but I’m not sold that having him as a bench player is the best thing for the 2015 Angels’ World Series bid. The Halos have a good roster, but the moves around the edges can make or break them. If the AL West is as tight as many expect, one or two wins could be the difference between the division title or maybe not making the playoffs at all.

If Featherston works out, great. But if he doesn’t the Angels lack anything in the system that resembles a defensively competent utility infielder. They could’ve just spend another two or three million dollars to go out and secure the services of an established veteran back-up. Those players can be volatile assets themselves, but they aren’t nearly as volatile as a rookie that is going to skip Triple-A.

The Final Word (and GIF)“Misspelling”

The thing I am looking forward to most with Featherston isn’t his play, it is all the various misspellings that are sure to come from his name. It is “Taylor Featherston.” Not Tyler Featherstone. Not Tayler Fatherson. Not Tywin Fetherstrom. Not Trevor Farthingstein.

C.J. Wilson gets the start. Will I get heartburn? Probably. Will he “get back on the beam?” It seems unlikely. Oh, and Josh Rutledge gets another shot at blowing the second base gig while Grant Green remains banished to every position other than second base.

The March 27th, 2015 edition of Los Angeles Angels news including Angels might not use a fifth starter, Pujols feels like himself again and much more… The Story: The Angels may start the season without a fifth starter. The Monkey Says: The schedule allows them to get through the first week or two with just four starters, but […]

The March 27th, 2015 edition of Los Angeles Angels news including Angels might not use a fifth starter, Pujols feels like himself again and much more…

The Story:The Angels may start the season without a fifth starter.The Monkey Says: The schedule allows them to get through the first week or two with just four starters, but this is mostly about Heaney and Tropeano failing to make a convincing case for the rotation thus far. I still expect Heaney to be given the job up until Garrett Richards returns, but foregoing the fifth starter would allow the team to carry an extra reliever and keep Vinnie Pestano and Matt Lindstrom or Scott Snodgress while still having a spot open for a long reliever like Drew Rucinski or Jose Alvarez.

The Story:Albert Pujols feels like Albert Pujols again.The Monkey Says: A nice little puff piece on Pujols still being motivated and having fun playing after all these years. He may feel like his old self, but the problem remains that his current self is old.

The Story:Kole Calhoun left last night’s game due to injury.The Monkey Says: As of this writing there is no indication what the injury is or how severe it might be. Hopefully it is just the Angels continuing to play things safe during Spring Training.

The Story:The positional power rankings from Fangraphs for right field.The Monkey Says: The Angels rate seventh. The more interesting thing here is that there is still this weird trend of everyone acting like Calhoun is an unknown. I know we have all seen him a lot more than non-Angels fans, but I don’t get the doubting or lack of familiarity with how good Calhoun really is.

Anyone that’s been paying attention to the Angels this spring knows that one of the main storylines is “Who will play second base for the Angels?” This was bound to come up after the Angels parted ways with Howie Kendrick and, to be clear, Jerry Dipoto fully knew what he was getting himself into when he […]

Anyone that’s been paying attention to the Angels this spring knows that one of the main storylines is “Who will play second base for the Angels?” This was bound to come up after the Angels parted ways with Howie Kendrick and, to be clear, Jerry Dipoto fully knew what he was getting himself into when he dealt Kendrick. The options for Jerry included Grant Green who is a no-glove, all hit option, Alex Yarbrough who hasn’t played a single game above Double-A or attempt to re-sign Gordon Beckham, who is great on defense, performed well for the Halos and has upside, but also tanked it for the White Sox for the last half decade.

Thus, we saw an infusion of “talent” at the position with the idea that it’d be an all-out war in Spring Training to see who comes away with the job. Jairo Diaz was dealt for Josh Rutledge in what has become an increasingly terrible move on Dipoto’s part. While Rutledge has the minor league success and range to be a quality everyday player, things in the majors have just been a disaster for him and this spring is no different. Johnny Giavotella was traded for basically nothing. Once a top prospect, Giavotella was with the Royals and was highly successful in the minor leagues both at the plate and on the base paths. But the Royals were never fully invested in him and what we saw was a lot of bouncing between Triple-A and the majors and never finding a rhythm. The Angels bought low and are hoping that perhaps a full-time job may lead to Johnny living up to the potential he clearly had coming up. Taylor Featherston was picked in the Rule 5 draft with the idea that he’d fill the utility infielder role and was a darkhorse candidate for the second base job. However, his defense has made it so that he’s more fitting of a utility role than a starting role.

But what if none of these options work out? Where can the Angels go from there? Believe it or not, there are some possibilities on the horizon that could easily be acquired.

Alex Guerrero – Guerrero was a high profile Cuban signing for the Dodgers a little over a year ago. Since then, things appeared to have soured in their relationship. The Dodgers never gave him a shot at second base and proceeded to move him around the infield and outfield in an attempt to fit him into their plans. In the mean time, the Dodgers also traded for Darwin Barney to play second base and have now made a 60 million dollar investment in another Cuban Hector Olivera, which has put Guerrero’s future with the Dodgers very much in doubt. One thing that is not in question however, is Guerrero’s ability to hit. He absolutely crushed the ball in the PCL last season. This spring it’s been more of the same too. While he isn’t a “plus” defender, he’s showing his ability to play adequately all over the field. Alex is also in his physical prime at age 28. Those are all the positives. But like all great deals, there’s a catch. Guerrero’s contract makes it so that if he is traded, his contract will automatically be voided at the end of the season. Meaning if the Angels traded for Guerrero, he’d be a free agent at the end of the year, making him a one-year rental. Dipoto has seemed reluctant to put himself in that situation thus far as it isn’t conducive toward building a future. Guerrero is also due $6.5 million this year, which isn’t a lot for an everyday player, but it’s also a price that makes it so that any team acquiring him better be certain he’s their go-to guy because, unless you’re the Dodgers, that’s too much to pay a minor leaguer/back-up.

Darwin Barney – Barney is also on the Dodgers roster, but he’s sort of the opposite of Alex Guerrero. Barney is a defensive specialist at both second base and shortstop. Offensively, he’s a lock to hit around .250 with a low OBP and not much power or speed, meaning he has very little offensive value. But in comparison to the Angels current options, a guaranteed .250 batting average may be something the Angels covet. We know his defense would certainly be an upgrade in any case and would be welcomed by the Angels pitching staff. Barney could also serve as a utility infielder and would be under team control for three more seasons.

Chase Utley – He’s probably the most attractive option of the bunch but is also one that is he least likely. Utley is a native Southern Californian which may make him more likely to accept a trade to the Angels. Chase is a potential Hall of Famer, who has played solid defense, hit for both gap power and power, stolen some bases and gotten on base at a consistent clip. The problem, however, is that Utley has had a hard time staying healthy as he’s aged, he’s now 36 years old, which means he’s also no longer the MVP caliber player he once was. He also comes attached with a $15 million price tag, which is a ton of money to spend on a 36-year old second baseman. Utley also has $15 million vesting options which will come into effect with 500 plate appearances for the next three seasons after that. This means that as a full-time player, the Angels could potentially pay Utley $45 million for his age 37-39 seasons of his career. Of course, this is unlikely to happen mostly because Utley as we said has had a difficult time staying healthy, and if he is no longer the offensive threat he once was, the Angels would have no reason to play him full time. Alden Gonzalez of the Angels has also reported that the Phillies would be looking for very little in return for Utley, as they’re in rebuilding mode and are likely more concerned with saving money for the future. This trade however would be the opposite of what Dipoto’s mantra has been so far, which is to get younger, more athletic and more cost controlled.